Tribe Victory

In a case argued by a Law School professor for the City of Boston, the U.S. Supreme Court Monday handed down a 7-2 decision allowing the city to set minimum percentage for local construction workers on city-funded projects.

Laurence H. Tribe, professor of law, took the city's case after the State Supreme Court ruled against the Boston hiring policy in 1979. The case stemmed from Mayor Kevin H. White's order that at least half the workers on city-funded construction be Boston residents.

Tribe was unavailable yesterday for comment on the decision.

For his work from October 1981 through June 1983, the city paid Tribe $77,000. "If you make the decision to hire a lawyer like Tribe, you pay what he costs," William J. Smith, first assistant to the city's corporation council, said yesterday.

"There's no question that he was worth it, though," Smith added.